Collapsible protective structure

ABSTRACT

This invention provides a tent structure essentially coneshaped, including a flue opening in one side adjacent the peak. Two flexible smoke flaps are aligned vertically along the lateral edges of the flue opening. Two truss poles extend from the ground on opposite sides of the tent to a location above the peak, and the peak of the tent is slung from the point where the truss poles meet. Two flap poles extend upwardly from the ground on the side opposite the flue opening, each flap pole crossing one of the truss poles externally and being attached to one of the smoke flaps, in order to maintain the flaps taut in a desired orientation.

United States Patent Fuller Dec. 18, 1973 COLLAPSIBLE PROTECTIVESTRUCTURE 2.865385 12/1958 Crafts 135/1 0 [75] Inventor: .3131: Fuller,Calgary, Alberta, Primary Examiner peter M. Caun Attorney-Peter W.McBurney et a1. [73] Assignee: Ian Tyson, Toronto, Ontario,

Canada [5 7] ABSTRACT [22] Filed: Apr. 21, 1972 This invention providesa tent structure essentially cone-shaped, including a flue opening inone side ad- [211 Appl' 246255 jacent the peak. Two flexible smoke flapsare aligned vertically along the lateral edges of the flue opening. 52us. 01 135/1 0 Two truss poles extend from the ground on pp [51] Int. ClA4515 1/00 sides of the tent to a location above the p and the [58]Field of Search 135/1 C, 1 D, 3 B, p of the n i l ng from he p int wherethe russ 135/3 C, 3 E, 4 B, 4 C poles meet. Two flap poles extendupwardly from the ground on the side opposite the flue opening, each[56] Refere Cit d flap pole crossing one of the truss poles externallyand UNITED STATES PATENTS being attached to one of the smoke flaps, inorder to 3.042 052 7/1962 Des Rosier 135/1 c maintain the flaps taut ina desired orientation 548,425 10/1895 Biddle 135/3 E 7 Claims, 4 DrawingFigures COLLAPSIBLE PROTECTIVE STRUCTURE This invention relatesgenerally to tents or temporary structures of a collapsible nature whichserve as a housing for the occupant to protect him against storm andweather conditions. More particularly, this invention has to do with atent structure adapted to be heated from within either by an open fireor by camping stove,

etc.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Tents in which open fires can be lit forwarmth have been known for hundreds of years. On the North Americancontinent, the Plains Indians have developed different variations of theessentially conical style of tent, generally known as the tipi. TheIndian tipi usually has a substantially circular base, and its heightfrom base to apex is about the same as the base diameter. Thetraditional construction of an Indian tipi involves first erecting aplurality of poles with their lower ends spaced around a circle intendedto define the base of the eventual tipi and their upper ends fastenedtogether at the peak. The skin of the tipi, when laid flat on theground, is generally semi-circular in shape, and includes two smokeflaps extending from the middle area of the side corresponding to thediameter of the semicircle. These smoke flaps, when the tent is wrappedaround the erected poles, take up a position in which they extenddownwardly from the tipi peak on either side of an opening through whichsmoke is evacuated from the interior of the tipi. In the traditionalconstruc tion of the tipi, the smoke flaps are held in a taut conditionby flap poles of which the top ends engage the smoke flaps and thebottom ends are dug into the ground. The flap poles bear inwardlyagainst the side of the tent, and are resisted by the support polesinside the tipi.

The entrance to the tipi is directly beneath the smoke flap, and thetipi is always erected so that the entrance and the smoke hole aredirected away from the prevailing wind.

In order to achieve a good draught so that the smoke from the interiorfire will exit through the smoke hole, the traditional tipi is at least12 feet high, and often as much as 18 or feet in height.

DISADVANTAGES OF THEPRIOR ART While the general plan of the traditionalIndian tipi represents an excellent design as far as smoke exhaustionand the maximum utilization of space are concerned, there are seriouslimits to its portability. The necessity of providing from 18 to 24 longpoles at each site, or of transporting existing poles from site to site,makes the traditional tipi construction totally unsuited for the kind oflight-weight camping that is popular today, where maximum utility itderived from minimum equipment bulk.

OBJECTS OF THIS INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of this inventionto provide a tipi-style tent similar to the traditional tipi, butrequiring no internal poles for its erection.

A further object of this invention is to provide a tipistyle tent whichis maintained erect by two exterior poles which co-operate in a specialmanner with two smoke flap poles so as to conserve the maximum amount ofspace within the tipi-style tent.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THIS INVENTION To achieve the foregoing objects,this invention provides a collapsible protective structure comprising aflexible tent converging upwardly from a lower periphery to a peak, andhaving a front and a rear, the tent having a flue opening in the frontadjacent said peak, and two aligned flexible smoke flaps along lateraledges of said flue opening, anchoring means for securing said lowerperiphery to the ground, two truss poles extending from the groundadjacent opposite sides of the tent to a location above the peak, thetwo truss poles meeting at said location, securing means for suspendingsaid peak from at least one truss pole at said location, two flap polesextending upwardly from the ground at the rear of the tent, each flappole crossing one of the truss poles externally and being attached toone of the smoke flaps, whereby the smoke flaps can be maintained tautin a desired orientation, and an entrance in the front of the tent.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS One embodiment of this invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals denotelike parts throughout the several views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a tipi-style tent embodying thisinvention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the tipi-style tent shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the tipi-style tent shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a partial side elevation, to a larger scale, of the peak ofthe tipi-style tent shown in FIG. 1.

PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Attention is first directed toFIG. 1, which shows a collapsible protective structure 10, whichincludes a flexible, conical tent 12 having a substantially circularbase 14, an apex 16, and two smoke flaps 18 (only one visible in FIG.1). As seen in FIG. 2, the two smoke flaps 18 define a flue opening 20which opens into the interior of the tent 12. An entrance 22 isprovided, which may be circular, oval or any other desirable shape.Generally speaking, the entrance 22 and the flue opening 20 are locatedat the same side of the tent 12, this side being referred to as thefront of the tent.

Each smoke flap 18 is roughly trapezoid in shape, having a generallyvertical edge 23, an oblique upward edge 25, and a short bottom edge 27.The upper edges 25 of the two smoke flaps l8 merge smoothly into eachother around the rear of the tent, which in FIG. 1 is the left handportion of the tent.

The tent 12 is supported by two truss poles 30, each having a bottom end31 which is dug into the ground at one side of the tent (the two trusspoles being arranged on opposite sides of the tent 12), and the upperends 32 of the truss poles 30 are tied together where they cross at thelocation marked with the number 34. The location 34 is generallyimmediately above the apex of the tent 12.

Where the truss poles 30 cross at the location 34, they are boundtogether by a pole harness 36, from which ties, thongs or chains 38extend down to buckle means 40 securely attached to the oblique upperedges 25 of both smoke flaps 18.

In FIG. 4, the means suspending the oblique upper edges 25 from the poleharness 36 is seen to include a downwardly depending loop 42, asnap-clip 44, and a plurality of chains 38.

Also in FIG. 4, the nearer truss pole is seen to include twotelescopingly collapsible sections 30a and 30b. Naturally some or all ofthe truss poles and the flap poles could be advantageously constructedto be telescopingly or otherwise collapsible.

The collapsible protective structure of this invention also includes twoflap poles 46, each of which extends upwardly from the ground at therear of the tent, crosses one of the truss poles 30 externally, and isattached at its upper end to one of the smoke flaps 18. As can be seenin the drawings, each flap pole 46 has its upper end 48 lodged in apocket 49 at the upper corner of one of the smoke flaps 18.

Around the circular base 14 of the tent 12 a number of tent pegs 50 areprovided to anchor the lower end of the tent 12 to the ground in theusual manner.

Preferably, the structure is erected in such an orientation that theprevailing wind tends to blow in the direction of the large arrow 52shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. In this manner, the smoke flaps 18 define anopening which is generally downwind, and this improves the draught inthe interior of the tent 12, so that smoke from a fire 53 built on theground within the tent 12 (see FIG. 3) will be drawn up to the peak, andout through the flue opening between the smoke flaps 18.

It is not essential that the smoke flaps 18 be in the exact shape shownin the drawings, since their configuration is a matter of choice. Thelower corners 54 of the smoke flaps 18 need not be provided, forexample, and the flaps can merely be triangular with the vertical edge23 extending directly from the pocket 49 to the bottom of the flueopening 20. Where the corners 54 are provided, however, they can be tiedout to a tie-pole 56 by cords 58, thus preventing the smoke flaps 18from flapping.

It should be emphasized that both the truss poles 30 and the flap poles46 serve more than one function in the construction of the collapsibletent disclosed herein. The truss poles 30 not only hold up the tent 12,but they also prevent the flap poles 46 from bearing in directly againstthe wall of the tent 12. It will be appreciated that, because the tent12 has no inner supports that could resist the weight of the flap poles46, the latter would cause a large and undesirable indentation in thewall of the tent 12 if they were to bear directly against the wall, andmight even cause the tent to collapse by tightening the wall to thepoint where some of the tent pegs 50 were pulled out of the ground. I

Conversely, the flap poles 46 not only keep the flaps oriented properlyand held in a taut condition, but by crossing the truss poles 30 on theoutside, they restrain the bottom of the truss poles 30 from slippingoutwardly away from the tent 12. In FIG. 3, for example, it can be seenthat the flap pole 46 is slightly curved by the force it exerts inwardlyagainst the truss pole 30 at the location 60 where the two cross. Thelocation 60 is spaced from the pole harness 36, and therefore the inwardforce of the flap pole 46 against its respective truss pole 30 tends totransmit a small inward force to the bottom of the truss pole 30 whichwould help to restrain the latter from sliding outwardly away from thetent l2, and causing the collapse of the structure. The flap poles alsoserve a third function by virtue of the fact that they extend generallyupwind of the tent (to the rear). Because of this positioning, the flappoles 46 would tend to act as a partial barrier to branches, tumbleweed,or any other debris being carried along the ground by a high wind.

Thus, the collapsible protective structure disclosed herein utilizesonly four poles, each of which serves more than one function andtherefore brings to the structure the advantage of an economy of means.

What I claim is:

1. A collapsible protective structure comprising:

a flexible tent converging upwardly from a lower periphery to a peak,and having a front and a rear, the tent having a flue opening in thefront adjacent said peak, and two aligned flexible smoke flaps alonglateral edges of said flue opening,

anchoring means for securing said lower periphery to the ground,

two truss poles extending from the ground externally adjacent oppositesides of the tent to a location above the peak, the two truss polesmeeting and being secured together at said location,

securing means for suspending said peak from at least one truss pole atsaid location,

two flap poles extending upwardly from the ground at the rear of thetent and being attached to the smoke flaps, each flap pole beingmaintained in a flexed condition around and in bearing contact with oneof the truss poles whereby each truss pole maintains outward pressure onits associated flap pole and each flap pole maintains inward pressure onits associated truss pole and outward pressure on its associated flap tomaintain said flaps taut in a desired orientation,

and an entrance.

2. The invention claimed in claim 1, wherein the flexible tent issubstantially conical in shape and has a substantially circular lowerperiphery.

3. The invention claimed in claim 2, wherein the flue opening iselongated and extends away from said peak above said entrance, andwherein each smoke flap is trapezoidal with one side defining an edge ofthe flue opening and one corner secured to the upper end of one flappole.

4. The invention claimed in claim 3, wherein said anchoring meansincludes tent pegs.

5. The invention claimed in claim 3, wherein a hypothetical line betweenthe bottom ends of said truss poles lies substantially along a diameterof said circular lower periphery.

6. The invention claimed in claim 3, in which the truss poles and theflap poles are collapsible.

7. The invention claimed in claim 3, in which the truss poles and theflap poles are telescopingly collapsible.

1. A collapsible protective structure comprising: a flexible tentconverging upwardly from a lower periphery to a peak, and having a frontand a rear, the tent having a flue opening in the front adjacent saidpeak, and two aligned flexible smoke flaps along lateral edges of saidflue opening, anchoring means for securing said lower periphery to theground, two truss poles extending from the ground externally adjacentopposite sides of the tent to a location above the peak, the two trusspoles meeting and being secured together at said location, securingmeans for suspending said peak from at least one truss pole at saidlocation, two flap poles extending upwardly from the ground at the rearof the tent and being attached to the smoke flaps, each flap pole beingmaintained in a flexed condition around and in bearing contact with oneof the truss poles whereby each truss pole maintains outward pressure onits associated flap pole and each flap pole maintains inward pressure onits associated truss pole and outward pressure on its associated flap tomaintain said flaps taut in a desired orientation, and an entrance. 2.The invention claimed in claim 1, wherein the flexible tent issubstantially conical in shape and has a substantially circular lowerperiphery.
 3. The invention claimed in claim 2, wherein the flue openingis elongated and extends away from said peak above said entrance, andwherein each smoke flap is trapezoidal with one side defining an edge ofthe flue opening and one corner secured to the upper end of one flappole.
 4. The invention claimed in claim 3, wherein said anchoring meansincludes tent pegs.
 5. The invention claimed in claim 3, wherein ahypothetical line between the bottom ends of said truss poles liessubstantially along a diameter of said circular lower periphery.
 6. Theinvention claimed in claim 3, in which the truss poles and the flappoles are collapsible.
 7. The invention claimed in claim 3, in which thetruss poles and the flap poles are telescopingly collapsible.